Thebes was a choke point for rail traffic heading south out of Chicago. The
Cotton Belt operated a ferry service that took entire trains across the river.
Despite the addition of a second ferry, the ferry service was not able to keep
up with traffic demands. As a result, a group of five local railroads pooled
their efforts to build a permanent bridge.

The Thebes rail bridge was designed by famous bridge builder Ralph Modjeski.
The bridge was built very strong given that the structure was designed to
carry two tracks, which could see two trains crossing the river at the same
time. In addition, it was envisioned that auto traffic would become more
popular. The bridge design included provisions to add a car deck at some
point in the future. As it turns out, the auto deck was never added. Due
to this extra strength, the Thebes rail bridge is known as the strongest
bridge to span the Mississippi River.

The bridge abutments are made out of reinforced concrete. While that is
common today, this is a very early example of the use of this material. Some
considered it risky when it was built. Nevertheless, the bridge is still
standing some 100 years later despite being in daily use carrying ever
longer and heavier trains.

While the new bridge streamlined rail traffic, the trains now had no reason
to stop at Thebes. As a result, the town more or less dried up and blew away.
Today, it is little more than a campground, a few seasonal houses, a few older
historic homes, and one very nasty public housing complex.

The photo above is the river spans of the Thebes bridge as seen from the
east riverbank in the village of Thebes looking to the south.

The photo above is the concrete viaduct approach spans on the east side
of the Mississippi. The trail is passable by high clearance vehicles
such as SUVs and pick-up trucks. The village of Thebes is located just
beyond the bridge to the north. The photo below is looking southwest
towards the west bank of the Mississippi River.